A delicious and healthy three-layer plant-based chocolate avocado cake filled with a luscious and thick naturally sweetened chocolate and sweet potato frosting.
My husband absolutely loves chocolate cake.
Each year, I make a chocolate cake for my husband’s birthday. There are three rules: it has to be a chocolate cake; it has to have chocolate frosting; and it has to be served with chocolate ice cream. He says that you can never have too much chocolate. And I tend to agree with him. Chocolate is divine. And since it is his birthday and I adore chocolate almost as much as he does, I strictly abide by all three rules without complaint.
The first year after we transitioned to a plant-based diet, I searched Pinterest to find delicious chocolate vegan cakes and found a few promising recipes. One of the things I have learned in this time is that vegan desserts can be just as tasty, if not tastier, than traditional cakes. That doesn’t mean they are healthy though. Vegan desserts may not contain eggs, butter, or milk; but most still contain refined flour, quite a bit of butter or oil, and a ton of sugar.
I’ve learned that this is the quintessential difference between vegan and plant-based recipes. This blog is my attempt to capture more plant-based healthfulness into tasty mouth-watering recipes. And that brings me back to the quest for my husband’s chocolate birthday cake.
Last year, I came across Dreena Burton’s sweet potato chocolate cake. While her cake is quite delicious, it’s rather small. By that, I mean I doubled the recipe and baked it in four inch baking pans to make a layered cake. While it was very good, there were no beloved leftover slices of chocolate cake the next day for my husband to enjoy. Bummer.
Since then, I found and adapted a nearly five-star chocolate cake on Veggie Desserts. But admittedly, I’ve adapted it quite a bit by first removing the two-thirds cup of butter and replacing it with an incredibly healthy source of omega fat -> avocado. Yes, avocado – as in the green fruit with a pit nestled inside.
Now before you leave this page, please take a moment to look at these Healthy Chocolate Birthday Cake photos. Then you can tell me this incredible gorgeous three layer chocolate cake isn’t the ideal trifecta of chocolate goodness. And I promise you that it tastes just as delicious as it looks. Pinky swear. You cannot taste any avocado. In fact, this Chocolate Birthday Cake doesn’t even taste healthy.
I think this Healthy Chocolate Birthday Cake is simply perfect. But I may be a teeny bit biased.
So back to the avocado. I use it in my Chocolate Avocado Pudding Breakfast Bowl for three reasons. Avocado lends a smooth creaminess due to its naturally high fat content; but it is also extremely nutritious and very satiating. These three things make my Chocolate Avocado Pudding Breakfast Bowl super satisfying and a great choice to start your day. The avocado contains key wholesome nutrients such as Folate, Potassium, and Vitamins K, C, B5, B6, and E. In fact, avocados contain more potassium than bananas! (Healthline)
Avocados also contain 7 grams of healthy fiber, which is great for your digestive system. But they also possess powerful antioxidants, which improve your immunity and can help prevent cancer. Even more, avocados contain 15 grams of healthy Monounsaturated Fatty Acids (MUFA) – the good fats. Said differently, 77% of the calories in an avocado come from heart and brain healthy fat. (Healthline)
This is precisely why I knew my favorite fruit would make the perfect substitute for vegan butter. And it worked like a charm!
Even better, the cool science-y part about these healthy fats is that these fats allow our bodies to absorb the fat-soluble nutrients like Vitamins A, D, E and K. So, instead of creating inflammation from eating excess processed vegan butter, the avocado improves absorption of the healthy nutrients in this decadent yet healthy dessert.
But that’s not the only reason why this Chocolate Birthday Cake is healthy enough to eat for breakfast. The frosting contains sweet potatoes and date sugar – sweet potatoes and dates are both nutritional powerhouses, too!! The sweet potato contains a lot of vitamins, nutrients, and antioxidants which remove free radicals from your body. But they also contain a great deal of soluble and insoluble fiber which improves gut health.
This chocolate cake is the epitome of good cake – it is moist and chocolaty with a tender yet substantial crumb and it’s topped with the most decadent and lush plant-based chocolate frosting. And when I say plant-based, I am really saying it contains no oil, vegan butter, or refined sugar. And with so much processed food available today, eating wholesome plant foods improves our bodies’ ability to function more efficiently on a daily basis.
The frosting contains sweet potatoes, cacao, and date sugar. All three contain powerful antioxidants and nutrients that fuel our bodies. Increasing these vital nutrients and fiber also help our bodies maintain a healthy gut, which in turn improves our immune system. Sweet potatoes are believed to improve cognitive brain function, eyesight, as well as reduce the risk of cancer. (Healthline)
And despite their higher calorie and higher sugar content, dates are super foods in their own right with just as many incredible health benefits. They naturally contain robust antioxidants, including more polyphenols more than any other fruit and vegetable – polyphenol is a powerful antioxidant that removes harmful inflammation in our bodies. (Medical News Today)
Dates also contain essential nutrients like potassium, B6 ,and iron; they are extremely high in fiber which improves digestive health and satiety, but is counteracts the sugar content resulting in dates registering much lower on the glycemic index. This helps regulate the blood sugar within our bodies. Dates also improve brain health and reduce the risk for cancer. (Healthline).
And because of their stickiness and natural sweetness, dates are ideal as natural sweeteners and binders in baking. But what about date sugar? According Ellie Krieger at the Washington Post, “date sugar is simply ground whole dried fruit… and contains all the fruit’s nutrients — vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and fiber… and at 10 calories per teaspoon it is about one-third lower calories than regular sugar, and its fiber and potassium content is not insignificant, …. with a low average GI of about 50”. (Washington Post)
Hence, the avocados, sweet potatoes, cacao, and date sugar are all ideal ingredients in this Healthy Chocolate Birthday Cake.
I made this cake with three layers; but you can easily bake two cake layers or use a large 9×13 baking pan, if you prefer. There’s plenty of frosting for all three layers plus the sides. And the bonus is this cake and frosting are so healthy compared to other cakes and frostings! Please do let me know if you try this incredibly delicious and Healthy Chocolate Birthday Cake.
It truly is healthy enough to eat for breakfast!! (Just maybe not with ice cream.)
Ingredients
- ¾ cup plant milk
- 1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
- ½ cup apple sauce
- 1 Hass avocado (about ¾ cup mashed avocado)
- 1 cup maple syrup
- 1 Tbsp vanilla
- 1 tsp instant coffee granules / espresso powder or coffee extract (optional)
- 2 cups white whole wheat flour
- ½ cup unsweetened cacao powder
- 1 Tbsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
Frosting Ingredients
- 2 cups plant milk
- 1 cup date sugar or unrefined sugar*
- 1/2 cup cacao or cocoa powder
- 1 cup raw cashews, soaked in hot water
- ¾ cup agave
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- ½ tsp almond extract or cake batter flavoring
- ½ tsp sea salt (optional)
- ½ tsp coffee extract (optional)
- 2 cups peeled, cooked, mashed sweet potato** (about 4 small sweet potatoes)
Chocolate Cake Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350° F. Lightly grease and flour three 8 or 9 inch round cake pans.
- Combine all of the wet ingredients and avocado in a high-speed blender. Blend 60-90 seconds until smooth and creamy.
- Sift flour, cocoa, baking powder, and baking soda into a large mixing bowl.
- Pour the wet ingredients over the flour mixture and stir to combine.
- Divide the mixture between the three prepared pans and bake for 16-20 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick or cake tester comes out clean. If using two pans, bake for 28-34 minutes.
- Allow the cakes to cool in the pans for 5 minutes, then turn onto a wire rack to cool.
Frosting Instructions
- Meanwhile, combine all of the frosting ingredients together in a high-speed blender.
- Blend all of the ingredients, except sweet potatoes, until extremely smooth, 1-2 minutes.
- Add the mashed sweet potatoes to the blender, until smooth. Your blender may seem a little angry at this point, but use the tamper to make sure the frosting is super smooth. This takes another minute or so. The chocolate frosting should be soft and smooth but hold its shape.
- Frost!! Place one cake on a plate and evenly spread one quarter of the frosting.
- Stack a second cake on top of the first and evenly spread another quarter of frosting on top.
- Repeat with the third layer.
- Spread the last quarter of frosting around the sides of the layered cake and smooth the edges of the top and sides until you’re satisfied with the way it looks.
Notes
* You can substitute coconut sugar for the date sugar. You can also use powdered sugar.
** For the frosting, I used four medium sweet potatoes to make 2 cups of mashed sweet potatoes.
The chocolate cake was adapted from Veggie Desserts. I subbed the avocado for the butter, subbed apple sauce and maple syrup for the sugar.
The chocolate frosting was adapted from Dreena Burton. I used soaked cashews instead of nut butter, added agave and almond milk.
Chocolate Birthday Cake
Equipment
- oven
- high speed blender
Ingredients
Cake Ingredients
- ¾ cup plant milk
- 1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
- ½ cup apple sauce
- 1 Hass avocado about ¾ cup
- 1 cup maple syrup
- 1 Tbsp vanilla
- 1 tsp instant coffee granules / espresso powder or coffee extract optional
- 2 cups white whole wheat flour
- ½ cup unsweetened cacao powder
- 1 Tbsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
Frosting Ingredients
- 2 cups plant milk
- 1 cup date sugar or unrefined sugar*
- ½ cup cacao or cocoa powder
- 1 cup raw cashews soaked in hot water
- ¾ cup agave
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- ½ tsp almond extract or cake batter flavoring
- ½ tsp sea salt optional
- ½ tsp coffee extract optional
- 2 cups peeled cooked, mashed sweet potato** (about 4 small)
Instructions
Cake Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350° F. Lightly grease and flour three 8 or 9 inch round cake pans.
- Combine all of the wet ingredients and avocado in a high-speed blender. Blend 60-90 seconds until smooth and creamy.
- Sift flour, cocoa, baking powder, and baking soda into a large mixing bowl.
- Pour the wet ingredients over the flour mixture and stir to combine.
- Divide the mixture between the three prepared pans and bake for 16-20 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick or cake tester comes out clean. If using two pans, bake for 28-34 minutes.
- Allow the cakes to cool in the pans for 5 minutes, then turn onto a wire rack to cool.
- Meanwhile, make the frosting ingredients in a high-speed blender – see frosting instructions below.
- Frost!! Place one cake on a plate and evenly spread one quarter of the frosting. Stack a second cake on top of the first and evenly spread another quarter of frosting on top. Repeat with the third layer. Spread the last quarter of frosting around the sides of the layered cake and smooth the edges of the top and sides until you’re satisfied with the way it looks.
Frosting Instructions
- In a high-speed blender, blend all of the ingredients, except sweet potatoes, until extremely smooth, 1-2 minutes.
- Add the mashed sweet potatoes to the blender, until silky smooth. Your blender may seem a little angry at this point, but use the tamper to make sure the frosting is super smooth. This takes another minute or so. The chocolate frosting should be soft and smooth but hold its shape. Add a little milk if needed.
Notes
To print or save this recipe, please click on the download link below: